The Scarlet Shadow

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jecb1982
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Before I begin, I want to preface this by saying there will be no sex in this story. It will not be a damsel in distress or superheroine peril story. I have written those stories elsewhere, so please don't ask me to put that in here.

Enjoy!
jecb1982
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Chapter 1

Los Angeles Times, September 2, 2012, page 3:

"Masked Robbers Taken Down

"A robbery attempt was foiled last night when a gang of four masked men tried to rob a jewelry store in downtown LA.  The group had seen some success already with breaking and entering on three earlier occasions at other stores in the area.  Last night was different though.  The men were attacked by an unknown assailant.  The local authorities were then notified, and when they arrived on the scene, they found the four men unconscious and trussed up inside the store.  Surveillance footage had not been released yet, but it is doubtful that it will show much.  The four men have been taken into police custody and await arraignment."

Los Angeles Times, September 5, 2012, page 4:

"Armed Drug Dealers Arrested

"An apparent drug deal scheduled for last night went south quickly resulting in several arrests.  Members of the Fighting Dragons were taken into custody last night after the LAPD received an anonymous tip telling them about the deal.  Leaders of the FD declined to comment, though one was overheard to say that if the people arrested last night were really members of their gang, they would not have been caught.  The arrest resulted in 40 kilos of cocaine being taken off the streets."

Los Angeles Times, September 6, 2012, page 2:

"Arms Deal Goes South

An arms deal on the docks didn't go as planned last night when a masked vigilante showed up on the scene and single-handedly took down everyone present just after the money changed hands.  Video footage, apparently shot by the vigilante, was found with the unconscious bodies of the perpetrators."

Los Angeles Times, September 10, 2012, page 1:

"Does LA Have Its Own Superhero Protector?

"Everyone knows the stories of Gotham City, Metropolis, and the like and how they each gained their own superhero protectors.  In recent years, stories of these masked vigilante's exploits have enjoyed the spotlight anew as their stories have been picked up by Hollywood.  But those are just fictional comic book accounts, right?

"Apparently not.  Or at least someone forgot to mention that to the person single-handedly cleaning up the streets of Los Angeles after dark.
"Members of the press have done a little research in this area and have discovered that there is actually a superhero subculture that many citizens may not be aware of.  It is not uncommon for practitioners to dress-up in their superhero garb and patrol the streets.  Many of them even belong to local neighborhood watches.  So why haven't we heard more about them before?

"'What we all agree to before putting on our masks and going out there is that we will not try to take things into our own hands," said a Mr Nighthawk, a member of this secret society.  "It can be dangerous out there, and the actual apprehending of criminals is best left to the professionals."

"We spoke with the Chief of Police to find out what his thoughts are on this subject.  His words echo those of Mr Nighthawk.  "Are we grateful for the help these individuals offer?  Sure we are.  Though we might like to, the Police cannot be everywhere at once.  We want these people to let us know when they see something that warrants a closer look, but under no circumstances are they to engage the criminals themselves.  It is too dangerous.  At that point it becomes vigilantism which is against the law.  Whoever you are, if we catch you, we will arrest you.  You can count on it!"

"While many in the underground superhero community applaud this one person's efforts, an individual who models himself after the Green Lantern had this to say "Whoever you are, if you come into my territory again without my permission and try to do my job for me, you will have to answer to me.  I don't need your help.  I was doing a good enough job without you."

"It is perhaps worthy of note that the jewelry store robberies that ended with the apprehension of the four men responsible for them were occurring in the Green Lantern's territory.

"I don't know yet whether to applaud this individual's decision to help out or to condemn it yet.  Only time will tell if it was truly worth it.  We can only hope that it doesn't end badly for anyone involved.
jecb1982
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Chapter 2
Who was this mysterious vigilante?  Why was he or she doing what they were doing?  How were they able to do it?

These, and others, were the questions everyone wanted to know.  Everyone, that is of course, except for the hero herself.

The night after the page 1 article was distributed throughout all of Los Angeles County, she was getting ready to make her most bold attempt yet.  It was to take down a major drug operation, one that was supplying about 70% of the heroine circulating in the city to the masses.  It would cost the people in charge millions.

Sneaking past the armed guards stationed around the perimeter of the warehouse was no problem.  They never, ever thought to look up.  Inside the warehouse, where the cargo trailer was being unloaded, there were an additional 20 or so men and women.  All of them were either armed or in easy reach of a gun of one kind or another.  Along with them, there were the workers, the people actually unloading the stuff.  Many of them had a weapon of some kind too.

She was perched near the roof in a dark corner of the warehouse.  Sure, it was a semi-obvious place to try and hide, but it was shrouded in shadow.  She liked the shadows.  They were what she had based her name off of: the Scarlet Shadow.  The shadows and her long red hair.

Someone was approaching her location.  He was on a catwalk beneath where she was.  She watched as he walked passed her, and then she dropped soundlessly to the catwalk he was on.  With his back to her, she crept right up behind him and then soundlessly took him out.  There was no need for her to attempt to hide his body anywhere.  When the man didn't respond during one of their routine radio checks, the others would all be notified that something was wrong anyway.

As if on queue, she heard his radio crackle.  She listened carefully for a moment, and then she knew that five other people were converging on her location.  It was time to act.

The lights in the entire building went out all at the same time.  Everyone was plunged into complete darkness.  Being of the shadows, she didn't mind in the slightest.  However, all hell broke loose around her.

Everyone was shouting at the same time, people were running all over the place, picking up weapons, tripping over things, running into each other.  There would be many injuries tonight and not all of them would be caused by her for once.

The Scarlet Shadow dropped 30 feet right into the middle of everything.  Several people saw the flash of red left behind by her hair and the glint of metal on the armor she wore on her chest and shoulders and the metal plates on her skirt.  With practiced ease, she gripped two men standing next to her and smashed their heads together.  She swept the legs out from under another three.  A spinning roundhouse kick dropped another would-be assailant.

The warehouse doors were opening and a couple of the vehicles inside the building were starting up.  They were trying to escape.  Inexplicably, the doors stopped at halfway and then began to close again.  It was too late for one of the cars to stop in time and it crashed into the nearly closed doors.

The Shadow continued to attack everyone in the room.  Anyone that came anywhere near her got hit and/or flattened.  She heard a gun go off above her, and then felt the bullet glance off the armor on her chest, ricocheting into the leg of someone that had pulled a knife on her.

Guns.  She hated guns.  They were the most cowardly weapon someone could try to use.  Certainly, if someone else had a gun, it would not necessarily have been cowardly to retaliate with one, but to use one on an unarmed person?  How low could you get?

A second shot rang out from the same place, and she was ready for it this time.  Less than a second passed after the report of the gun, and then the shooter screamed in pain as a bullet lodged itself in his hip.  It wasn't anything fatal, but it would certainly take him out of the fight.

Barely five minutes had passed since the lights had gone out and she was the only one standing.  It took her an additional ten minutes to move everyone to the still partially loaded trailer where they would await the arrival of the police.  She made sure to include a memory card from her camera containing video footage of what was going on before she went into action.  Then, pressing send on her cell phone, she sent instructions to her partner to place an anonymous call to the police.  By the time the police arrived on the scene, she was long gone.
jecb1982
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Chapter 3

I awoke with a start.  I had been dreaming about that night again: the night my life was forever changed.  It was why I couldn't remain in any one place for more than a few years.  What had woken me up?

Of course, it was Julie, the head maid.  Essentially, she ran the entire house.  At times, there were perhaps 20 other people living in the house.  They were all house staff of one kind or another.  They all reported to her, and she reported to me: Kiersten Halsey.

Julie was the only person that entered my rooms unannounced.  I lived in a beautiful, large home in the middle of a sprawling estate.  I had an entire wing all to myself, and it had three of the best rooms in the house.  They were octagonal in shape.  The only door in either of the three rooms was the door into my bedroom, and then a reading/sitting room was on one side of my bedroom and the bathroom with an attached water closet was on the other side.

"I miss them, Julie," I said.  I didn't need to elaborate.  She knew who I was talking about.

"I know, Miss.  It's a shame how early in life they were taken from you.  They were such good people."

"Would they be happy with how I have chosen to live my life, with the choices I've made?"

"I think they would want you to use your talents for good.  They will probably have had different methods of achieving your goals, but you are not them."

"No, I don't suppose I am."

This was more or less the same conversation Julie and I had on an on-going basis.  It had been about a month or so since the last time we had it.

"I noticed the scratch in your armor this morning."

"Hmm, yeah, one of them had a gun last night."

"As I understand it, many of them had guns last night, Miss.  Someone saw you well enough to be able to shoot at you."

"I guess that's one way of looking at it.  Someone was bound to see me at some point though."

"I asked Mr Gillian to replace that panel for you."

"Thank you.  I will visit him later and thank him too myself."

"He also wanted me to give you these."

"They're ready?  Wow, I wasn't expecting them for a few more days at least!"

I got up from bed then, skipping to where Julie stood.  In her hand, she held a pair of glasses.  They were no ordinary glasses though.  The lenses were red tinted and they had an adjustable band that fit around the wearer's head.  When not in use, they glasses themselves could be flipped up onto the top of the wearer's head on a hinge that sat above the ears.

Those of course were not the most amazing features though.  Putting them on, I activated the lenses.  Suddenly I could see through Julie's clothes and skin.  Her bones were clearly visible to my view.  Toggling a switch changed the view from x-ray to infrared.  There was a third setting as well which I knew would be of no use to me just yet: smart night vision.

"Julie, they're amazing!  I love them!"

"Don't tell me, Miss.  Tell Mr Gillian when you see him later."

"Yes, of course I will.  Thank you for bringing them to me, Julie.  I think that will be all for now."

"Very good, Miss.  Call me if you need anything."

Switching the glasses back to x-ray, I watched as Julie opened my bedroom door and closed it behind her.  I could clearly see her as she left my part of the house.  These were going to be awesome!

Julie had also delivered my breakfast, brining it in on an actual silver platter.  I couldn't wait to get started for the day.  After hurriedly eating the food, I got dressed in my training outfit and then opened the secret panel in my bedroom wall.  There was a shaft leading straight down to the converted training dojo.  Though Julie discouraged it, my secret passages were definitely the fastest way to travel through my home.

I spent two hours using the various equipment in the dojo, even activating one of my specially designed robot sparring partners.  I didn't usually use them because it had been a few years since one of them had even managed to touch me.  After years of use, many of them were pretty banged up.  It wasn't because I possessed any superhuman strength or anything but rather because I hit them quite a bit.

Next, was an hour in my indoor obstacle course.  The course was almost entirely computerized, and it was nearly impossible to get to if you were not me.  Because it was computerized, it was almost never the same two days in a row.  Sometimes, it would even change as I was inside it, offering a new level of difficulty because I would have to adapt whatever I was doing on the fly.

I spent the remainder of the day in study.  As a superhero, I long ago decided that the best legitimate profession for me to go into was forensic science.  I wanted to be an expert in all areas of forensics though.  Many scientists had a specific expertise, and they sometimes knew relatively little about of areas of the discipline.  I didn't want to be like that.

Finally, it was time for me to visit Mr Gillian and suit up.  His lab was located below ground in some natural caves that I had discovered and had reinforced and retrofitted for my purposes.  I took the express elevator down and came upon him as he was hanging one of my suits up.

"Kiersten.  How do you like them?"

"Steven, they're perfect.  Just what I wanted."

"Of course they are.  I'm the best, aren't I?"

"And the most modest too, of course."

"Yes, well, I've never put much stock in modesty."

"My parents were modest.  It's why I was able to have a mostly normal life growing up."

"I know."  He didn't feel that anything else was necessary.  No one ever said anything bad about my parents.  It was as though they were saints or something.

I walked the short distance to the wall my suits hung on and took one down.  They were all exactly the same.  It was always good to have at least one backup, and I had 5.  I tried to wear them all equally so no single one wore out more quickly than the others.

It only took me a few minutes to get dressed, and then I stood in front of a mirror to check its fit.  I wore a form fitting black body suit that covered my entire body from ankles to wrists and neck.  The material was thin, so it by itself didn't offer much protection.  Around my hips, I wore a metal plated skirt.  Around my chest, upper back, and shoulders, I wore metal body armor.  My forearms were also armored.  My stomach and lower back, upper arms, head, and legs below the skirt were all left unprotected by armor, but the armor's purpose was not necessarily to protect my body.  All of the metal on my was black so as to blend in with the shadows.  On my hands, I wore a pair of small black gloves, and on my feet, a pair of ankle boots with a two inch heel.  All that remained was the black mask I had yet to put on over my eyes and my new glasses.

"Wish me luck tonight!" I called to Steven as I mounted my motorcycle.
"Luck?  You don't need luck."

It was the thing we said to each other every night now.  Smiling, I put on my mask and glasses, and then the Scarlet Shadow gunned the engine on her bike.  Her red hair flew behind her head as she raced out of the hidden cave entrance and onto the interstate.
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valugi
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The story to be very interesting, I look forward to reading more
jecb1982
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Chapter 4

Los Angeles Times, September 13, 2012, page 1

"Death Of A Hero

"Late last night, residents of the South Hills apartment complex reported hearing what sounded to them like a gun shot.  Authorities were called to the scene to investigate and paramedics could later be seen carting a shrouded body back to an ambulance.  Spectators were left looking for answers.

"After arriving at the morgue, the victim was identified as one Roger Morris, a resident of the aforementioned apartment complex.  Neighbors say he was a huge superhero buff and had stacks of comic books lining his apartment.  He often invited other residents in to look through his collection.

"It appears that Morris was not just a superhero buff but was actually taking to the streets himself after dark dressed in a homemade superhero costume.  The costume itself was mostly black with a red arrow insignia printed on the chest and back.  While there have been no reports as yet of Morris having attempted to stop any crimes in progress, stories abound of a mysterious Red Arrow helping people in the area.  It was common to see him performing such acts of kindness as getting balls off roofs, rescuing stranded pets, and even helping an elderly woman across the street.  While it is unclear at this time whether he was in any way involved in the recently perpetrated acts of vigilante justice, most people will agree that the Red Arrow will be missed.

"Why was Morris gunned down then?  Had he gotten involved in something too hot for him to handle?

"Perhaps his death will give us some insight as to who or what authorities should really be after.  Many will remember the page 1 story about the largest drug bust in this city's history which was brought about through the actions of an as yet unidentified superhero.  As stated in that story, the actual weight of the confiscated drugs was not the largest we have seen, but it will surely result in the end of a major drug dynasty as the people responsible for the drug's presence on the scene will now have to scramble to find new ways of bringing in their merchandise.  They are no doubt quite upset over this development.

"Could the superhero responsible for this bust be indirectly responsible to the death of Mr Morris?  If so, why did Morris have a target on him?  No other superhero deaths have been reported.  What did he do to get himself killed?

"We may never know the true answers to the above questions, but some intriguing details have come to light.  First, the mystery hero was spotted.  While no one was able to get a good look at the him or her, eye witnesses state that the hero appeared to be feminine and relatively small in stature.  The hero's costume was either entirely black, or mostly black.  They also report a streak of red.

"Much of this interesting description does sound similar to the Red Arrow.  Mr Morris was not especially tall, being only 5'5".  His costume was black, and it had a red arrow.  The only thing that doesn't fit was that Morris was definitely male.

"Was Roger Morris, aka the Red Arrow in fact the superhero the police are looking for, or was he simply in the wrong place at the wrong time?"

Los Angeles Times, September 14, 2012, page 1

"Mystery Hero Responds

The following letter was delivered anonymously to the editor today:

"People of Los Angeles County,

"I wish to apologize for the death of a fellow hero.  The Red Arrow was doing what he felt to be his moral obligation towards the wonderful citizens he served.  He will definitely be missed.

"It was me he died for, and he didn't even realize he was doing it.  Because I have waited until now to identify myself, an innocent man died in my place.  I shed many tears over his death.

"In an effort to prevent any future assassinations, I urge the rest of the superhero community to hang up your masks until such time as the killer or killers are brought to justice.  I realize what a difficult thing that is to request, especially when none of you know me.  I just don't want more innocent blood on my conscience.  If you still wish to help people, please consider doing it as yourselves.  I feel confident that doing so will keep the target on me and off of you.

"Who am I and why am I doing this?  I am someone who cares about justice, who believes that it is worth fighting for.  I believe that the police force does an excellent job much of the time, but they are also becoming inadequate for some of the tasks placed before them.  I am someone that has the means to be this city's protector.

"I am the Scarlet Shadow, and I will not hang up my mask!"

"Is this the response the citizens of this city want?  Do we want to put the responsibility to keep us safe in the hands of someone that will not openly identify him or herself?

"Analysts are searching for clues as to this so-called superhero's identity.  In the meantime, we spoke with the Chief of Police for the LAPD and got his thoughts on this letter:

"I do not subscribe to any form of vigilante justice.  While I agree with this Scarlet Shadow that all people pretending to be superheroes should hang up their costumes, I think it is hypocritical in the extreme for him or her to not do the same.  If someone wants to protect the streets, come see me, and I will issue a badge and a uniform to qualified applicants."

"So what is it going to be?  Will we continue to see the deaths of other, innocent citizens, or will the Scarlet Shadow be brought to justice?"
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Chapter 5

The Scarlet Shadow rode through town.  Her motorcycle had a whisper quiet engine even when she revved it.  Kiersten Halsey had other motorcycles to choose from in her garage f she wanted to contribute to the noise pollution already present.  This one was built for speed and for stealth.

Not having to worry about making a bunch of noise, she was able to arrive at the scene of the shooting without being detected mere hours after it happened.  She had gotten wind of it as the story was breaking, but it had been necessary for her to wait until now or sneaking in would have been impossible.

The apartment's parking terrace where the murder had taken place was next to a high-rise construction site.  Hiding in the shadows, she was able to spy down on the scene of the crime.

It was time to put her new glasses to good use.  The police had mostly left, but there was still a couple of officers hanging around, securing the scene.  The Shadow wouldn't be able to actually go down there herself, but she could use the different filters on her glasses, the zoom lens, and the video recorder.  After getting as much footage as she felt was necessary, she moved to another place in the construction site, a place further to her left, to get some different angles.  She would want to do the same thing from another angle at least once more.  Before leaving the site completely, she took some video footage of the surrounding buildings, including the construction site.

*****

Returning home, the Scarlet Shadow removed her mask, and then I hung it up in its place.  Julie and Steven would make sure it got cleaned before I needed it again.  I decided to keep the glasses on, though I had flipped the lenses up so they were sitting on the top of my head.  I also decided to remain in my Scarlet Shadow uniform.  I liked the feel of it.

I stood on a circular, flat, raised platform.  It was about 50 feet across.  "Upload video."

At the sounded of my voice, the cave's computer mainframe connected with the technology in my glasses and began downloading the footage I had taken.

"Upload complete," said the computer after about thirty seconds.  The computer's voice was my mother's.  She was one of the most intelligent people I knew, so loaded a bunch of sound files that it used to recreate her voice for me.

"Begin rendering, and build a model of the footage on my location.  Fill the space."

It took another minute, but then a 3D model of the crime scene appeared on the platform.  This was technology at its finest.  Though I couldn't feel the model, I could see it, and I could interact with it.  If I wanted to zoom in on a feature, I could.  The computer had even analyzed stains on the pavement and could give me a list of possible matches for what could have created the stain.

I began walking around the scene, looking at it from every angle.
"Remove the bystanders and add the Red Arrow's body."

One by one, the people standing around the scene disappeared, and then a rendering of a dead body dressed in the Red Arrow costume appeared lying inside the chalk outline.  There was no way for me to know for sure whether he had fallen on his back or stomach, but that wasn't too important at the moment.

"Copy him and stand the copy on his feet."

Now the Red Arrow stood looking right at me.  I shivered unconsciously.  It was as though he were blaming me for his death.  There was no doubt in my mind that he had been killed because of his resemblance to me.  He was a bit heavier and taller than me though, so it certainly was not a close match.

Based on where the bloodstain appeared on the pavement, the computer had generated a possible exit wound in the Arrow's left pectoral.  It had pierced his heart, and he wouldn't have lasted very long after that.  If he had been facing the other way, the bullet would have exited the right side of his back.  It seemed more logical that the killer would have shot him through his heart though, so it appeared that the computer had guessed correctly.

I began looking around on the ground to see if I could find where the bullet would have struck it, if at all, after doing its damage.  I didn't have a whole lot to go on, but I did know the direction it would have traveled in.  I didn't find it on the ground.  It ended up being on the low wall that surrounded the terrace.

"Draw a line connecting this point to the bullet hole in the Red Arrow's chest, and then extend that line back behind him.  Use the cave wall to fill in the buildings behind him."

I watched as a red line appeared.  Moving behind the Arrow, I looked to see where the shot might have originated.  As it turned out, it came from the apartment building that owned the parking garage.  It was shot from one of the rooms.  I doubted that trying to figure out who lived there would yield much.

"Kiersten, are you down here?"

It was Julie.  I glanced at the time and saw that I had been up the entire night already.  I didn't do that often, and I was rarely especially tired afterwards.  One of the perks of being me, I guess.

"Yeah, I'm right here.  What's up?"

"There's something you're going to want to see.  Oh-"

She had just come around the corner and saw the projection.  She held a newspaper in her hand.  I watched as her eyes nearly popped out of her head at the level of detail the computer could achieve.  She wasn't really much of a computer person.

"Well, never mind.  I guess you already know about it."

"I do.  What did they say though?"

"They said he was killed, and they're wondering if what you are doing was worth the cost."

"Worth the cost of a life?  Very little a person does is worth another person's life.  Most people live a good portion of their lives without knowing what it's like to lose someone close to them.  They think they understand what it's like, but they never do."

"Well, I guess I don't have to ask what you're going to do about it."
"No, you don't."

"Can I ask that you play it a little more safe?  These people have already shown that they won't hesitate to kill.  While you might not have anything to worry about, those that still care about you do."

"I know, Julie.  Don't worry, no one's going to find out."
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It was the day after my letter had appeared in the paper, and I was down in the cave on the platform again.  I had wanted to be left alone, so Steven had clocked out for the day.  If I needed him for something, he wouldn't be far.

I was busy reconstructing the scene of The Incident.  It wasn't just any incident, it was The Incident, the one that had forever altered the course of my life.  Many people had one, but it was also common to have a series of smaller incidents that added up over time.  Mine was just one, an exceptionally huge one.

The problem was that there weren't any video files of The Incident for me to upload.  I had taken plenty of surveillance photos of the scene as it was now, and fortunately not much had changed in the 10 years since it happened.  I had been using the photos as the backdrop for what I was trying to recreate.

"Computer, load file 3114153, password C2#qw1e."

I watched as the computer generated the scene around me.  When it was complete, I was a little taken aback at how real it looked, even though I knew exactly how it would be.  It was a scene that had been etched in my brain.  It was missing some things though.

There was a jar full of colored sand in my hand and I dumped part of it in the middle of the platform.  It was time for me to work my magic, literally.  Well, almost.

Seemingly of its own accord, the sand began to rise into the air, swirling around and around.  The colors flowed together, and the mini sand storm began to take on a shape.  Within minutes, there was a lifesized replica of myself standing before me, wearing the clothes I had been wearing on that fateful day.

"Record this image, and add it to file 3114153 as it is in this position."

"Would you like me to animate it as well?"

I had forgotten to specify that.  All images that I added to the file had to either be animated or static.  It's a good thing the computer had been programmed to require that parameter.

"Yes, animate it as well."

The computer scanned the image, noted its location within the scene, and then it began rendering it.  Its processors will have analyzed the image to determine what exactly it was, and it would then be able to determine in what ways the image should be able to move.

Many computers around the world were capable of projecting holographic images.  In that aspect, my computer was simply a little more powerful than most of them.  What really set my computer apart was that I was operating it.  It always responded best to me.

"Save complete."

I held the partially full jar of sand out before me and the sand image of me flew through the air and back into the jar.  It was almost as though it were being vacuumed back into the jar.  When all the sand was safely back in the jar, a ghostly holographic replica stood in its place.

After a few hours of work, the scene was ready.

*****

10 years ago, my parents and I went for a walk.  It was something we did at least a few times a week.  There was nothing especially unusual about going on a walk with them.  We were even going to a place we often went to walk.

As we walked, conversing with one another, a car came screaming around the corner.  Suddenly, the sound of gunfire ripped apart the quiet solitude we had been enjoying.  All three of us froze.  We were too stunned to even think about running and hiding.  The car drove right past us on the street, spewing nearly a thousand bullets forth as it went.  We were caught right in the middle of it.

10 seconds after it began, it ended.  The car turned the next corner and was gone.  I realized that I had been screaming, and so I stopped, looking around for my parents.  I found them both lying on either side of me.  They had both been hit several times.

"Mom!  No!  No!  Oh God, no, this can't be happening!"

I fell to my knees, grasping for my mother's hand.  I couldn't look at her face; I didn't want to.  Half of it was gone, and I didn't want to see my mother that way.  My father had faired only slightly better.  Though he was also already dead, his face was still intact.

I looked around me.  My eyes were blurry with tears, but I could see that there was no one else that wasn't lying down on my side of the street.  People were on the other side though, and they were coming towards me.  They were going to help me.

*****

7 people died that evening, 6 right then and the final person died the following morning.  She was the wife of the person the people in the car had intended to kill.  So how had I managed to escape without getting hit even once?

I watched the scene unfold before me.  I knew what happened to everyone else, so I had removed their images from the scene.  I didn't want to see my parents get shot again.  I was the only one still in the scene.

Bullets zoomed towards me, but then they veered off at the last second.  None of the bullets had even grazed my clothes.

I, of course, already knew this.  The thing I wanted to look at was the possible trajectories of the bullets that were shot.  Though I hated doing it, I had also obtained photos of what all the victims, including my parents, looked like after they had been hit, and I had recreated the bullet holes in the pavement and scenery behind us from the crime scene photos.  I needed to know if I was responsible for any of the damage done to my parents.

It was a very difficult question.  Was I responsible for their deaths?  Would their injuries have been any less severe if I had died as well?  Was there anything I could knowingly have done differently had I been more aware of what was going on with me personally?

"Display most likely bullet trajectories and hits."

Hundreds of lines were drawn in the air emanating from a single horizontally moving point of origin.  They seemed to fill the air around my image.  When the computer had finished drawing the trajectories, red impact points where the victims had been hit appeared in the air along several of the trajectories.

"Filter out all straight trajectories and their resulting hits."

I watched again as many of the hundreds of lines disappeared.  When the computer was done, it was only the trajectories that had come near me that were left.  The computer was unable to account for these lines completely because bullets are always supposed to travel in a straight line, but these ones couldn't have.  If they had, I would have been hit.  There were a few impact points hovering in the air along some of the trajectories.

"What is the likelihood that these impacts were caused by these bullets?"

Text appeared before my eyes next to each hit.  They were percentages.
"What is the likelihood that these hits were caused by other bullets?"
More percentages appeared.

"They're higher."  I let out a sigh of relief.  It certainly wasn't definite, but the odds were okay.

*****

The Scarlet Shadow went out again that night.  She roamed the city, looking and listening for things to do.  A man making a withdrawal from an ATM was able to go home with a full wallet.  Two women in two different allies returned to their families with their virtue still intact.
She was then stopped.

"Hey!  What the hell do you think you're doing?"

It was a man.  Looking in the direction of the person that had spoken her as she was mounting her bike again, she saw that it was a man dressed in green and black much like the Green Lantern.  She remembered what had been said in the paper by someone dressed like this.

"Hi.  I am the Scarlet Shadow.  Please return to your home and put your costume away.  I don't want to be responsible for the deaths of any other innocent people."

"Return to my home?  You have some nerve!  Here you are, on my streets, telling me to leave.  Just what gives you the right?  Huh?  I have just as much right as you do to be out here."

He was in her face now, towering above her.  Standing at only 5'2" bare foot, that wasn't exactly a difficult feat.  He punctuated his questions by poking her in the middle of her chest.  She imagined that it would have hurt if not for her armor.

"It's my fight.  I started it.  Now back off."

"Not till you agree to never come uninvited into my territory ever again."

Something was wrong with the situation, and it wasn't because of the man accosting the Scarlet Shadow.  She could handle him.  Something definitely felt wrong.

The loud report of a high-powered rifle shattered the relative stillness of the night.  Milliseconds later, the bullet veered off its intended course just prior to striking the Shadow above her left breast and instead buried itself in the asphalt by her bike.

"Get down!" she shouted, shoving him to the ground.

The Shadow went immediately into action, activating her glasses.  She knew the direction the bullet had come from, and she zoomed in on the spot she thought most likely for an assassin to have chosen.  She saw a warm body getting to its feet and running in the opposite direction.

"Damn!"

She would have to follow, leaving immediately, if she had any hope of catching this guy.  However, because he had seen her and the Green Lantern wannabe together, he was now in danger.  The Scarlet Shadow video recorded the entire scene around her as quickly as she could.  She then dug the bullet out of the street and put it in a pocket on her skirt.

"I need a belt," she said to herself.  Then, turning to the guy hiding on the ground, she said "Climb on the bike behind me.  This is not open to discussion.  You're coming with me, now!"

He didn't argue though he was definitely not happy.

Unfortunately, she lost her attacker.  Perhaps if she had been on her own, she could have caught him.  This guy was a professional though.  It wouldn't have been easy.  She wasn't alone.  She had someone that now needed her protection.
jecb1982
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Chapter 7

Bringing the fellow hero with her was a risky thing for the Scarlet Shadow to do.  If she brought him back to her lair, she would have to keep him under constant supervision.  He would essentially be her prisoner, and she didn't like the sound of that.  She could hide him in a safe house, but she would still need to watch him closely to make sure he was safe and that he didn't try to escape.  Her final option was of course to just let him go and let the chips fall where they would.  That could result in his death and, regardless of how she felt about him, she didn't want to be responsible for his death.

"Where are you taking me?" he asked.  He was visibly shaken by having come so close to death.  If he had taken just one step to his right when the shot had been fired, he would either be lying on a hospital stretcher right now or worse.  He was very pale.

They had stopped, hiding in a blind alley.  There was only one entrance, so it was easier to defend him against additional sniper attacks.

"I have a problem.  I don't know what to do with you.  I have no doubt that that guy was aiming for me, but he could start gunning for you now that he has seen us together.  I don't think it will matter that we're not actually friends."

"What?!  I didn't do anything though!  This is all your fault!  Why couldn't you just play by the rules and then no one would get hurt!"

"People get hurt all the time.  Our actions won't change that.  They're only trying to kill me because they see me as a real threat to them now.  If I'm a threat to a criminal, then that means I'm doing something right."

"This is a job for the police!  We only watch, never engage.  It is the cardinal rule, and you breaking that has put all of us at risk.  Why couldn't you leave well enough alone if you weren't going to follow the rules?"

He was getting in the Shadow's face again, trying to intimidate her.  The adrenaline in his system was counteracting his fear.

"For the same reason you began doing this in the first place.  It's the same for all of you.  You idolize the heroes you read about in your comics, and you want to be like them.  But you're not.  You don't have the special skills or training that they do.  Why don't I leave it to the police?  Because the criminals think they're a joke.  They run around flaunting what they are doing right under the cops' noses, and the cops can't do anything about it.  I know what I am doing is dangerous, but it has to be done.  Someone needs to show these people that they can't break the law any longer and get away with it."

"Why you then?  Why like this?"

"Because I can make a difference.  I'm not afraid of them or what they might do to me because they won't be able to do it."

He was silent for a time.  She had gotten through to him, awakening feelings he had not had since he first became enamored by superheroes.  Maybe he was wrong and she was right.  She was making a difference, more than he had been able to make, and he had been at this longer than she had.

"All right.  Okay, so how do we do this then?  How can I help?"

"You?  Tell me what you want to do.  The way I see it, I have two options: I take you back to my hideout and keep you under lock and key until this sniper is caught, or I take you to a safe house."

"Well, if you did either of those, I would basically be your prisoner, right?  I can help you.  I mean, you're doing what all of us want to do.  Take me back to your hideout, and I can be your partner."

She thought about it for only a second.  Yes, she knew he was being sincere, but she didn't want him to become associated with her, or he would still have a target on his head.

"I already have all the help I need.  I just need to keep you somewhere where I can protect you."

"Ah, come on!  I won't be any trouble.  I swear!  Besides, you never know, I could be a big help to you."

"All right, if I take you with me, I will need to cover your eyes, and you will have to promise that you will stay out of my way and not be a nuisance."

"Yes, yes.  Of course, whatever!"  Looking around, he spotted a heavy looking bag lying against the brick wall.  He picked it up and put it over his head.  "There.  Are we ready to go?"

She had to smile at his eagerness.  She couldn't resist.

*****

"Wow.  This is your hideout?"

The Shadow had taken her to her cave.  Before arriving, she had phoned ahead that anyone in there should clear out.  Steven had been the only one, and he had done so without argument.

"This is it."

He began taking off his mask.  It was all the way off before she could interject.

"Um, what do you think you're doing?  I don't want to be responsible for keeping your identity a secret."

"Well, it's a little late for that, sister.  The cat's already out of the bag.  Besides, it's the code.  All superheroes can always reveal their identities to fellow heroes.  They all have the same thing to lose."

"You still don't get it, do you?  I'm not doing this for fun.  This is who I am.  This is not playacting anymore.  This is the real thing, the real world, and in the real world, people are not as honorable or as good at keeping secrets as in the world of comic books."

"Yeah, I know all that.  You must have someone helping you though.  I heard you telling someone they had to be gone when we got here.  You trust them with your secrets, so why not me?"

"Because, I don't know you."

The Shadow wasn't especially thrilled that she couldn't remove her mask anymore while she was still playing host to this guy.  She needed to get work done though, and the first order of business was going to be analyzing the bullet she had retrieved.

Taking the bullet out of her pocket, she went to the computer mainframe and put it on a scanner.  The scanner immediately went to work, building a full digital image of the bullet.  It was hopelessly smashed from having hit hard asphalt, but there were still a few surfaces she could get forensic evidence from.

She went to the platform and said "Upload the last 5 minutes of recorded data from my headset."

The man followed her and stood near her on the platform.
"Upload complete." said her mother's voice.

"Show me."

The street was reconstructed before them.  Every detail that she had recorded through her glasses was visible.  She went to stand by where the image of her bike was.

"Come stand in front of me.  I need you to try and stand exactly where you were when the shot was fired."

"Sure thing."

"Scan our images and add them to the scene exactly as we are right now."

"Scan complete."

She relaxed and stepped away.  Where she had been standing, a ghostly image of herself now stood.  He moved to the side as well, and his replica remained in his stead, frozen in time.

"I need to show you something.  You need to understand who and what you are dealing with."

The Shadow put held the bullet on her palm, and then the bullet levitated off of her hand and went to a spot a couple of inches above her image's left breast.

"Scan the bullet in its current position and add it to the scene.  Then plot the trajectory back to the shooter."

As the two of them watched, a red line traced itself in the air going up through the cave roof.  The same line then traced to the impact point in the street.  The line didn't pass through the Shadow's image though, it curved around her.

"Do you see anything unusual here?"

"Do I-  You're asking me if I see anything unusual here?  Hello!  Look around you!  This whole place is unusual!  It's straight out of a comic book!  I mean, this kind of tech doesn't exist in the real world."

"Yes, I know, but do you see anything unusual about the bullet's path?"

"Umm, what, you mean besides the fact that it went around you instead of through you, defying the laws of physics?  No, nothing unusual about that."

"All right, sarcasm noted.  What do you think could have caused that?"

"Uh, well, I guess there could be a few different explanations.  You have a shield on that is invisible to the naked eye and only stops fast moving projectiles.  A magnetic field made it go around you.  You did it the same way you made that bullet float in the air.  Am I getting warm?"

"You could say that..."
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valugi
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this story is starting to get more interesting
jecb1982
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Chapter 8

The Scarlet Shadow didn't end up hanging around for long in the cave.  She was the only one capable of opening the door to the outside that she used when she was on her bike, so she wasn't worried about him getting out through there.  She also wasn't especially worried about him using the lift that would take him to her home.  All she had to do was ride it up herself and deactivate it.

"So, what's up, Kiersten?  Who's the guy in the costume?"

"You mean you don't know yet?  Steven, you're losing your touch!"  The Scarlet Shadow removed her mask, and I decided to stay in my outfit for a little bit.  I lay back on one of the easy chairs in the south wing of my house, draping my legs over the arm.

Steven took a bite from his apple.  "Of coursh I know ooh 'e ish."

With a flick of my wrist, the partially chewed chunk of apple in his move flew out from between his teeth seemingly of its own accord.  "You know I don't like it when you chew and try to talk at the same time."

"Yeah, yeah.  As I was saying, of course I know who he is.  I just wanted to see if you knew yet."

"If I knew who he was, I wouldn't have any further need of you, sweetie."

"Aw, now don't say that.  You know you love me.  You wouldn't last a week without me and all my tech."

"Oh, wouldn't I?"

"No, you wouldn't.  This place is completely wired.  I doubt you could even open a door if I didn't want you to."

"Did you see what I did with that piece of apple?  What makes you think I couldn't do the same thing with a simple door?"

I really loved these conversations with him.  I knew he liked them too.  It made me feel almost normal talking with him like this.  I didn't mind the delay.  I knew he hadn't garnered all the info he would have liked to have, and our little chit chat was giving him more time.

"You've got skills, I'll grant you that, but you would barely have been able to do that if the sun were up right now."

"That reminds me.  What have you got on that bracelet idea I had?"
"Well, if it could be done, it would certainly amplify your powers, but we don't even know how they work.  It will take some time, that's all I can say."

"I've got time.  Lots and lots of it."  Time was one thing I definitely had plenty of.  "Now that my computer has finished downloading everything anyone knows about him, why don't you tell me who I have in my cave."

"I still don't know why you don't just use that brain of yours and scan him yourself."

"You know I don't like doing that.  That kind of intrusion is much more intimate than what you're doing.  Sometimes I do get little glimpses of things whether I'm trying to or not.  I know he's a good person, and I know his name is Jeff Bloom, but I don't know much else."

Steven told me about my new "friend".  When my computer scanned him downstairs, it enabled Steven to figure out who he was.  He worked at a bank during the day and then moonlighted as the Green Lamp at night until about midnight.  At that point, he always had to return home and sleep or he would be discovered by his employers.  Tips he had given to the police had led to several arrests in his neighborhood, so he was doing some good.  He lived alone in a rented townhouse, and he wasn't seeing anyone romantically.

Satisfied with what he had told me, I asked him next about the bullet.
"You don't want Julie finding out that someone else was taking potshots at you."

"She's going to put two and two together.  I'm not in the habit of bringing home strays, so I would have to have had a good reason to bring him home."

"Well, anyway, that guy that took a shot at you has a lot of kills under his belt.  He is a suspect in at least fifty shootings, all of them fatal, but no one has been able to pin anything on a specific person.  They say he's a gun for hire, usually charges $1,000,000 per bullet which usually works out to $1 Mil a kill.  If this guy's still after you tomorrow, it means whoever you've managed to piss off really means business."

"My life is only worth $1,000,000 to these people?"

"Well, no.  $2,000,000.  Remember, this guy has already shot two bullets in trying to kill you."

"Right, whatever.  I must not have gotten through to these guys yet if they haven't put a real bounty on my head yet.  What do you say?  Should I string this along as long as possible and see if these guys are willing go go broke trying to kill me?"

"No, I think that kind of price would mean a lot of collateral damage, and I know you don't like that."

"It was just a thought," I replied, petulently.

*****

The Scarlet Shadow was out in the city again the following night, searching for any clues she could find that would lead her to the people trying to kill her.  In the process, she didn't neglect her self imposed duty to help those in need.

Close to midnight, she came across a young woman in trouble.  Two men had followed her as she was walking home from a late night purchase from a convenience store nearby.  In her flustered state, she had turned down an alley with a deadend in an attempt to get away.  The men had her trapped.

The Shadow dismounted her bike and crept into the mouth of the alley, keeping to the shadows.  Something felt a little off about what was going on, but she ignored the feeling for now because someone needed her help.  Her own needs could wait.

"Why, lookie what we got here.  A fine piece of meat, and it was even nice enough to wrap itself in a pretty little package."

"No!  Leave me alone!  Let me go, I have to get back to my husband and baby.  They're expecting me, and he'll come looking for me if I'm not back soon."

"If he really cared, he woulda' come hisself and not made the little wifey come out at night with all the scarey bad guys."

They were closing in on her a little at a time.  They didn't know what exactly the girl might do when she was cornered, and they knew they had all the time in the world.  The cops didn't come out here unless called and no one in this neighborhood ever called them.  One of them decided to take his chances and rushed her.

Accompanied by a casual flick of the Shadow's wrist, the assailant tripped, doing a face-plant on the hard concrete ground.  He came to a stop three feet from where the girl stood trembling against the wall.  The other guy snickered.

As the one that had fallen looked back at his friend, giving him a dirty look, he noticed that the shadows in the alley looked different.  One of them seemed to be moving in a way shadows didn't normally move.  It had red hair.

"Hey!  Behind you, man!  Look out!"

The Scarlet Shadow stepped into the slightly lighter shadows near the middle of the alley, becoming much more visible to the girl and two men.  The guy still on his feet drew a butterfly knife from his pocket and whipped the blade out.

"Look out!" shouted the girl.

The Shadow drew nearer the man.  The one that had fallen got up and began inching around her along the wall.  She knew he meant to flank her, and she let him.

The knife guy slashed at her.  He moved fast with practiced precision, but the Shadow sidestepped out of the arc of the knife and then followed up with a kick to his hand. Her kick sped his hand along its path across his body, and the next thing the guy knew, his knife had got his own shoulder.  She followed up with a backflip, both of her booted feet connecting with his chin.  She landed cleanly on her feet, but he was out for the count on his back.

The second guy rushed her like he had the girl, but this time he didn't trip.  He swung at her with his fist, and she blocked it with the gauntlet on her forearm.  His strike ended with the sound of crunching bone, and for a moment, he could only stare at his broken fist.  She took advantage of his distraction by flipping towards him and wrapping her legs around his neck.  She finished by pulling him forward and smashing his head into the concrete.  He was out now too.

"Oh, thank God you came along!  That was so awesome."

"Don't mention it.  Now, if you'll excuse me..."

She didn't get a chance to finish.  The girl pulled a gun on her.  This close, there was no way she would miss.  The Shadow put her arms up in defeat.

"I caught the great Scarlet Shadow.  The boss will be so pleased."

"Don't count your chickens before they've hatched," replied the Shadow.  As she had put her arms up, she had taken a small black thing from a pocket in her new belt that hung loosely around her waist.  The girl saw it as the Shadow clicked a button on its surface.

The girl's mocking smirk changed to an expression of dismay as the gun in her hand literally fell apart in her hand.  The slide, firing pin, ammunition clip, and bullets all fell to the ground at her feet.  She was left holding a useless piece of metal.

"What was that you were saying a minute ago?"

"Uh, well, I uh...  Hey!  You're going to pay for that!  That was my boyfriend's favorite gun!"

"Yeah, whatever.  Now tell me about this boss you were talking about."

"Who?  The Iron Hand?  Trust me, the less you know about him, the better.  I'll be doing you a favor by keeping my mouth shut.  He don't care much if people talk about him, it just increases his street cred."

"Is he the one that put the hit out on me?"

"Oh yeah!  I wouldn't be surprised if you don't last the night."

The girl stood there facing the Shadow, fuming at how easily she was beaten, and all the Shadow had done was click one little button.

There was nothing left for her to do here.  Turning her back on the girl, the Scarlet Shadow went back to her bike and started off down the street.  The fact that she had helped someone that was just luring her into a trap burned in the back of her mind.  She would have to be more careful about who she helped.
jecb1982
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Chapter 9

Los Angeles Times, September 20, 2012, page 2

"Scarlet Shadow: Arsonist or Hero?"

It was all I could read.  I couldn't believe they would think that I was responsible for the fire last night that burned down a brand new apartment complex.  Though there weren't very many rooms that had not been taken already, it was only staff that were in the fire.  Because of the Shadow's efforts, none of them had died.

It wasn't easy though.  The Shadow had been near the burning building when the smoke and the flames first became evident.  Without stopping to think, she entered the burning building, ascending the stairs until she was on the level the trapped people were on.  She had then led the people through the fire and then to safety outside.  They had inhaled surprisingly little smoke despite having walked right through it all.

I glanced down at the paper and my eye caught little snippets: "unhurt", "quick response", "set it herself".

Julie walked into my room then.  She had Jeff with her.  I had instructed her to bring him to my rooms when he woke up.  The Shadow had finally relented last night and let him accompany her up the lift to the house above the caves.  He had been shown to a guest room where he was given a change of civilian clothes and allowed to shower and sleep on a real bed.

My anger must have been evident.  "Is something wrong, Miss Kiersten?  Did you change your mind about Mr Bloom coming to see you?"

"What?  No, I still want to see him.  It's the story this morning about the Scarlet Shadow's latest exploits.  Their making her out to be the villain.  She saved those people, and not one of them died!  How can they call her anything but a hero now?"

"You knew, Miss, when you created this Scarlet Shadow persona that the road ahead of you would not be easy.  You knew you would have to fight to make a good name for yourself."

"Um, Kiersten, maybe you might want to put the paper down."

It took a moment for me to see what he was referring to.  The paper was beginning to smoke, and the edges were curling and turning black.  When I saw what I had been doing without realizing it, I let go of the paper, and then it was engulfed in a fireball that consumed it instantly as though it had been soaked in rocket fuel overnight.  By the time it hit the floor, the fire had already burned itself out, and there were only ashes left.  I clutched my head for a moment, massaging my temples.

"You're getting stronger, Miss.  This is good news.  Now, why don't you get dressed in something more appropriate for company.  Mr Bloom and I shall wait for you in the hall."

In truth, I wasn't any stronger now than I had been last month or even a year ago.  If it had been an hour closer to noon, the headache would have been accompanied by a nosebleed.  I just didn't usually attempt setting something on fire like that.  The situation warranted the results though.

If Julie had been unfazed by the pyrotechnics display, Jeff was flabbergasted.  He had seen me do a few things, mostly levitating small things, so it is understandable how seeing a fireball erupt into being in mid air with no obvious source would be cause for surprise.  He still wasn't used to being in the company of someone with actual superhuman abilities.

It took me a few minutes to change out of the clothes I had worn to bed and into something more appropriate, as Julie had put it.  I then put my long hair into a ponytail.  It was too unruly at this point to do anything more with it without washing it first.

"So, you know what I think of every time I see you do stuff like that?"  Jeff and I were eating breakfast together.

"Yeah, you think of Firestarter by Steven King."

"How do you do that?"

"I don't know.  It's like my brain has an antenae wired to it and everyone else's brains are just broadcasting stuff all the time.  A lot of the time, I can keep my brain tuned between stations so I don't pick up anything real clear, just general stuff.  Other times, people broadcast what they're thinking very clearly, and I can't help hearing it."

"Why would you want to be out of tune?  I think it would be really useful to be in tune."

"Well, it would be like eavesdropping.  People have a way of only letting others see what they want them to see.  No one would be able to hide anything from me if I didn't want them to.  I want to give people their privacy as much ad possible."

"That's very considerate of you.  So, what's your range?"

He asked this as he took a bite of eggs.  For a moment, I thought about plucking the eggs from his mouth as I had done with Steven and the apple the other night, but then I decided against it.  For one thing, Jeff was not Steven, and I didn't know how he would react.  For another, I was only just getting over my last headache.

"Um, I can hear everyone in the house right now.  We're kind of isolated out here though, so I don't know how far away exactly everyone is.  I can tell you where almost everyone is though and about how many people there are.  It gets harder the more people there are."

"Okay, wait.  You lost me there."

"I don't know how to explain it.  I'm sorry.  It's like this feeling a get.  My brain is attuned to sensing life, and so I know where people are.  It's how the Shadow knew where those people were in that fire last night."

We ended up making our way back to the Steven King book.  It is about a girl with special abilities.  Her parents had taken part in an experiment in college that had given both of them special abilities to some extent.  Because she was the product of the two of them, her powers were exponentially more powerful than theirs ever could be, and they seemed to have no limit.  Her powers were often followed by pyrotechnics displays though, and mine weren't.

"I don't know how I got to be like this.  My parents never said or did anything to make me think they could do any of this stuff that I can do.  The first time it even happened was the night my parents died.  We were in the wrong place at the wrong time and got caught in the middle of a driveby shooting.  Everyone on our side of the street was hit except me.  I didn't have a single scratch."

"And you never tried doing any of this stuff before then?"

"No.  Why would I?  I had no reason to think I was any different than anyone else.  I didn't even know then that I had done anything.  It took a few weeks for me to figure anything out."

"And that's why you decided to devote your life to fighting crime.  Except for the telekinesis and psychic stuff, you sound a lot like Batman."

"Who do you think was my inspiration?"

*****

Once again, the Scarlet Shadow went out to patrol the streets that night.  Jeff wasn't too happy about still being left behind, but the assassin still had not been caught.  Though no one else had been targeted, the threat was still there.  She couldn't allow him to get into harm's way.

A call came through from Steven.  She had asked him to monitor police scanners for any activity that she might be interested in.  It appeared that officers had gotten into a nasty little shootout with some gang members.  The police were pinned down and awaiting backup.

The Shadow arrived on the scene before the reinforcements arrived.  The police were huddled behind one of their cars.  The other car had already been destroyed and the ammumition the gangbangers had would soon turn the other car into an approximation of swiss cheese if it didn't blow up first.

Sticking to the shadows, the Shadow scaled the buidling the shooting was coming from and entered through a window.  She took out the first gunman easily enough, but then everyone else was alerted to her presence.  The room wasn't big enough for her to hide herself effectively, so she couldn't rely on the shadows here.  Instead, she whipped out her remote and pressed the button before any bullets could be shot her way.

The look on the gang members' faces was extremely satisfying as their guns all literally fell apart in their hands.  Within seconds, what had been a collection of assorted firearms was reduced to a scattered pile of useless metal.  Its work done, the Shadow stored her handy little gizmo in her belt pouch.

The men were still dangerous.  Many of them whipped out blades or picked up heavy looking chains.  They began circling her, closing in.  They intended to do some serious bodily harm to this intruder.

As one of the chain wielders swung his chain at her, it went unexpectedly wide and hit his friend in the leg, sweeping it out from under him.  His knife was then plunged into the leg of the person next to him.  A similar accident happened on the other side of the room.  The heavy chains hit hard enough to put the people they hit out of the action for a few minutes at least.  That left four people out, but there were still five on their feet.

Steven had developed a pair of batons for her that she wore on her belt on either side of her waist.  They were about 3 feet long and were made of a lightweight metallic polymer.  The batons appeared to jump into her hands, and then the five people surrounding her attacked all at once.

The Shadow flawlessly executed a complicated set of movements as she simultaneously dodged out of the way of her attackers and swung the business ends of her batons.  To an observer, it would have appeared almost like a dance as she spun, ducked, swung, kicked, flipped, jumped and cartwheeled around the five men.  Her movements were too graceful, and she was too agile for any of the five to hit her even once.  It only took a few minutes for her to knock every one of them out.

There was increased activity outside the building.  The police had noticed that the shooting had stopped, and the reinforcements had finally arrived.  They were busying themselves getting into formation so they could storm the building.  The Shadow didn't want to get caught.  There wouldn't be time for her to properly subdue her assaillants, but at least they were no longer a threat.  She had just enough time to leave her calling card before SWAT stormed the room.

Police were baffled as to what had happened.  One minute they were fearing for their lives as heavily armed gang members demolished their cruisers with highpowered firearms.  The next minute, the shooting had completely stopped and sounds of a fight were coming from the building they were hiding outside.  Upon entering, they found the gang members either unconscious or otherwise in no condition to offer any further resistance to arrest.  Lying on the floor was a card about the size of a playing card.  It had a white background with a dark feminine figure with long red hair blowing over her shoulder and green eyes in the foreground.  Emblazoned over the figure were a pair of stylized and interlinked S's.
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valugi
Staff Sargeant
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Joined: 11 years ago

The story is increasingly interesting
jecb1982
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Posts: 40
Joined: 12 years ago

Chapter 10

The Scarlet Shadow didn't get far after avoiding being seen by the police.  Someone was waiting for her.  As she was climbing on my bike, preparing to get out of the scene, a shot was fired, but she didn't know where it came from.  The buildings surrounding her caused the gun's report to echo all around me, and she couldn't tell from which direction the shot originated.

It didn't matter.  She had less than a second to catch the speeding projectile and bend it off course.  The Shadow managed to divert it away from her body, but it hit her bike instead.

Being as intune with her equipment as she was, she could feel the kinetic energy building between her legs, threatening to rip her in two at the slightest touch.  Focusing on her bike, she held the quickly building energy in check long enough for her to dive off her bike and roll out of the way.  The explosion nearly popped her eardrums, and fire rained around her.  She literally pushed the deadly flames out of the way, hoping the flames wouldn't singe her precious red locks.

Now she was pissed.  The Shadow liked her bike.  Someone would pay.
She flipped her glasses down over her eyes and scanned the rooftops.  It was no use.  As powerful as the different vision settings were, she couldn't see anything of use.

"Steven?  I had an accident...  Yeah, it was my bike...  Bullet came out of nowhere.  I only just managed to not get hit myself...  Yeah, that would be great.  Let me know the address...  Yeah, thanks.  And tell Julie not to worry."

Steven knew where she was because he was tracking her phone by GPS.  He said he would find her a hotel room to stay in for the night.  She would be able to remain much more inconspicuous if no one came to get her just then.

*****

I hated sleeping anywhere but home.  Truth be told, I actually had several homes throughout the country, and I hated not being in one of them in my own bed with my own pillows.  At least Steven had been able to convince me beforehand to have a couple of safehouses with stashes of my own clothes.  I didn't know where they all were, and this one was a hotel room.

There was a knock at the door.  I went to it and called to whoever was on the other side, asking them to identify themselves.

"Detectives Smith and Green, Miss.  We have a few questions for you."
I felt their minds.  They were legit at least.  How did they find me though?  I didn't think anyone had followed me.

Opening the door, I let them in.  Before I had gone to bed last night, I made sure none of my equipment was in plain sight.  Since I hadn't touched any of it yet this morning, I knew I didn't have to worry.  Even though I was letting them in, they still couldn't actually search without a warrant.  My fourth amendment rights wouldn' t let them take anything that they couldn't see without disturbing anything.

"What's this about, officers?"

"Are you staying here alone, Miss?"

"I am.  I just needed a night or two away from home right now.  No special reason, just needed a little space."

"How old are you?"

I raised my eyebrow at him.  "How old are you?"

"Sorry, Miss.  I guess we didn't properly introduce ourselves.  We're with the LAPD, and we're canvasing the area in search of an armed and dangerous suspect.  It is believed the suspect is female, so I'm sure you can understand why we might be interested in questioning you."

"Oh, right.  Cus I'm a female and all alone.  Yes, I can understand that."

"Now, do you have any kind of ID on you?"

"Umm, well, yeah.  Of course I do.  I wouldn't have been able to rent this hotel room if I didn't."

I went to the desk drawer and pulled out my ID.  Fortunately, I had taken it out of my belt pouch and put it in the desk last night.

"Kiersten Jane Halsey."  Taking out his phone, he took a picture of my driver's licence, and then I could only assume that he sent it on to police headquarters.

"Can you tell us why you are here?"

"Uh, it's like I said before.  I just wanted to get out of the house for a night or two.  It's not because anything bad or anything happened at home, I just wanted out."

"And if we were to call your parents, they would be able to corroborate that?"

"Yeah, sure they would.  Hey, let me know how that goes.  I'd like to talk to them too if you can get me a number."

The two were confused.

"Come on, guys.  I'm Kiersten Halsey.  Kiersten Jane Halsey.  Does that name ring any bells?"  No bells were going off for them.  "Look out the window.  You see the skyscrapers there?  My family owns half of them."

And then it clicked.  "Right!  Miss Halsey.  Orphan.  Parents killed in a driveby 10 years ago.  You had just graduated from high school."  Detective Smith turned to his partner and struck him on the arm.  "Hey, man, when you woke up this morning, did you think you would be talking to a billionaire today?"

"Orphan.  Hey, sorry Miss.  I guess your parents wouldn't be available, and I guess you just look younger than you are.  We could've sworn you were still a minor.  Anyway, we just need to ask a few routine questions and then we'll be out of your hair."

The two asked me their questions.  They were of the basic "where were you last night" and "did you see anything strange" variety.  They said they would send someone to my home in a few days when I would be home and able to answer a few additional questions.

I watched the officers get in their car and drive away.

"Steven.  Something needs to be done about this sniper.  A couple of LA's finest just paid me a little visit...  No, I didn't have any trouble with them...  Of course!  Hey, I value my work more than anyone.  You don't need to remind me that I need to be careful...  Apology accepted...  Yeah, I think that would be a good idea...  Okay...  Right...  Okay, I'm going to stick around here for another day and maybe see what I can find out on my own...  No, I don't think that will be necessary...  Yeah, okay, put him on...  Thank you."

Jeff had wanted to speak with me.  He had gotten worried when I didn't return home last night.  Even now that he was on my side, he was still a little annoying.  Cute though.  He had an idea he wanted to discuss with, and I had him put me on speaker phone so Steven could voice his opinion.

"Yeah, I think it sounds like a good idea, but what do you think, Steven?  Can it be done?..  No, I think he's probably getting a little desperate.  I mean, how many shots has he taken at me now, and he still hasn't hit me?..  See what you can do.  That's all I'm asking...  Of course...  Thank you, I'll talk to both of you later."

We had a plan.  I just had to hope it would work.  I would need to scout out the place to attempt to put it into action.
jecb1982
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Neophyte Lvl 5
Posts: 40
Joined: 12 years ago

Chapter 11

The Scarlet Shadow had just been accosted by the Green Lamp.  She was straddling her bike and he was standing next to her in the middle of the street.  It was just after midnight, and she had once again stopped a crime in progress minutes before.  The Green Lamp wasn't happy about her nosing into his territory, doing his job for him.  They were having quite the heated discussion.

On a rooftop overlooking the street, the mystery sniper was setting up his equipment.  He couldn't believe his bad luck so far with this target.  He only very rarely missed, and here he had taken three shots at her already and missed each time.  He would be very happy when this job was done.

Normally, he would try to be a little farther away from the scene than this, but he wasn't going to leave anything to chance this time.  The target would get hit, and then this job would be done.  He would even throw in a bullet for the other guy for free once it was finally done.

Normally, he would try something fancy, just to show that he could.  He wasn't a very nice guy, so he didn't generally do things for free.  Usually, he would be able to line up the shot so he hit both the target and the other guy with the same bullet, but, again, he wasn't going to take any chances this time.  No, it would be one bullet for each of them.  The girl was going down this time.

He got down on his stomach, and lined up the shot.  Looking through the scope, he centered the cross hairs right on the target' s head.  His finger on the trigger guard, he mimed shooting first her and then him in quick succession.  He even factored in the inevitable recoil.  Once again, he lined up the shot and mimed it.  Finally, he lined it up for the third time, and then he pulled the trigger twice.

It couldn't have been more perfect.  The two bullets sped from the muzzle of the gun, and two deafening blasts assaulted his ears.  He was expecting that, so he had come prepared with his earplugs.  Less than a second after the bullets left the gun, they went straight through the heads of the two people.  They were so fast that they didn't even fall down immediately.

"That was pretty good, sir.  Don't they usually fall down and die though after being shot like that?"

He spun around so fast, it was a wonder he didn't hurt himself.  There was a dark silhouette standing above him with long wavy red hair blowing in the breeze.

*****

While it did appear like the Scarlet Shadow and the Green Lamp were down in the street having another argument, it wasn't really them.  It was actually a projection of both them and her motorcycle.  The Shadow had created it herself using her bottle of sand.

The scene was perfect.  She even managed to create the appearance of shadows beneath the images.  The best thing about it was that the street lamp nearby hid the light stream from the projector.

The difficult part of this operation was going to be determining from where the assassin would attempt to make his shot.  It was fortunate that the Shadow was actually very intelligent.  She doubted that he would be in one of the tallest buildings.  For one thing, the assassin would have a harder time getting out of the building to escape her if he missed again if it was too tall.  For another, he would undoubtedly want to stack the cards as much in his favor as possible by being as close as possible when he took the shot.

He also wouldn't want to use the smallest buildings since that would also make it easier for her to catch him.  The loud gunshots would reverberate against the walls of the buildings surrounding her, and that could conceivably confuse her as it had a couple nights before.  She was reasonably confident that he knew there was something special about the glasses she wore, so he wouldn't be able to count on her not being able to find him with him closer than was really necessary.

The assassin would need a clear shot of her.  There were plenty of buildings both in the immediate vicinity of the scene with a clear shot as well as farther away from the scene.  With the lack of success he had been having, he didn't think he would risk taking a long shot, so that meant he would have to be near by.

Taking all of these considerations into account, the place he would most likely choose would be in a moderately high building with easy roof access and with no obstructions.  Fortunately, there was just such a building.  It wasn't out of the question that he would be expecting her to think of all this, so it was likely he wouldn't choose the best place.  She could also reasonably rule out the second best place, so she would go for the third best building.

She was in luck.  Less than twenty minutes after activating the projection, a darkly dressed man carrying a large case arrived on the roof she was waiting on.  The Shadow was very skilled at hiding.  It was an art she had managed to perfect in the ten years since her parents had been killed.  She watched him get set up, and she watched him mime taking his shot.

The bullets, when they finally left his gun, flew straight and true.  The bullets blew right through the heads of the two projections, first her head and then his.  She watched him for a second or two, and she let her mind tune in on his for the briefest of moments.  He had taken the bait completely, and he still hadn't figured it out.

She got out of hiding and stood right above him.  She managed to not make any sound as she approached which is not a very easy thing in boots with hard soles like hers.  "That was a good shot, sir.  Don't they usually fall down and die though after being shot like that?"

The man was fast.  He reacted with so quickly to her presence that it was like a reflex.  A third shot rang out originating from a handgun in his right fist.

The bullet was easy for her to catch, especially since she could anticipate it.  She didn't merely catch it though, she made it arc around her and then back at him.  It slammed into his thigh with even greater force than it really should have for its caliber.  The Shadow really didn't like people using guns to solve their problems.

The assassin was definitely not expecting that.  Okay, so he had been outfoxed with the projections he had taken shots at, but there should have been no way he could miss her from this close.  And then she shot him, and he hadn't even seen the muzzle blast!  And oh God did it hurt!

"Alright, mister, I want some answers, and then we're taking a little trip down to the nearest police station.  I'm sure we'll be able to find some people there that would love to see you."

"No way in hell, bitch!  There is nothing you can do to make me talk."

"Then I guess it's a good thing I don't actually need you to talk.  I already know you were hired by the Iron Hand.  I just want you to show me where I can find him."

The Shadow knew he wouldn't talk, but she also knew he wouldn't be able to resist thinking about it.  She caught the image with no effort at all even as he sneered at her as he tried to staunch the flow of blood coming from his leg.

"Like I said, I'm not saying any-"

In the seconds before his brains exited his head from a newly created hole in his forehead, she felt that something was wrong.  Nearly being sprayed with gray matter confirmed the suspicion.  Without missing a beat, she flipped her glasses down over her eyes and scanned the rooftops in the direction of the shot for the new assailant.  She saw two heat signatures nearly a mile off, and they were waving at her.
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